2025 Regional Pilot & Feasibility FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Deadline: 

Full Proposal Submission deadline: Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 5 pm

Amount of funding:

Applicants may request UP TO $70,000 in total costs for one-year duration under this program.

Earliest Start date: January 1, 2026

 

Pilot and Feasibility Program Directors

Purpose

The Stanford Diabetes Research Center (SDRC) is soliciting new Pilot and Feasibility Projects. The focus of the SDRC Pilot and Feasibility (P&F) Program is to provide seed funds to help develop early-stage investigators as well as support innovative and/or high-risk proposals from established investigators involved in any aspect of diabetes related research, including but not limited to basic sciences, translational research, clinical research, economics and population sciences. The SDRC is committed to supporting diabetes research within and beyond Stanford University.

The SDRC P&F program is primarily supported by the P30 center grant awarded by NIH/NIDDK and has supported 83 pilot projects since 2016. Institutional funds have also been used to supplement some of the projects.

Eligibility

  • UC Berkeley or UC Davis investigators (with faculty appts.) with M.D., M.D./Ph.D., or PhD. degrees.

  • Each applicant must have at least two years of full-time laboratory/clinical research experience after receiving their advanced degree.

  • Applications from established investigators new to diabetes research are also encouraged.

  • Applications from established investigators with innovative diabetes-related research proposals are also encouraged.

    IMPORTANT: Please note that all projects must be focused on diabetes and diabetes-related research. We also ask that applicants be mindful of the latest NIH guidelines. As the SDRC is funded by the NIH/NIDDK, we are required to ensure full compliance with current—and evolving—NIH policies, particularly as they pertain to the Pilot & Feasibility (P&F) Award Program.

    Preference will be given to:

    1) Early career investigators: Assistant Professors who have a high potential for extramural funding in the near future, and to achieve independent status

    2) Applications using core services at Stanford not available at the applicant's home institution (U.C. Davis or U.C. Berkeley). Please reach out to the SDRC Program manager at jsarthi@stanford.edu to inquire about access to the research cores for your project.

    3) Applications that focus on translational studies of diabetes prevention and control.


    * Note: Though collaborative proposals involving investigators from other institutions, including Stanford University, are permitted, budget allocation for such investigators will NOT be approved. Funding must be entirely used to support research at UC Davis or UC Berkeley only.


Submitting an Application

Full application submission guidelines:

Application deadline: Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 5 pm

Please use the Application link below to submit your application.

P&F Application Form

Upload a single PDF containing the following in the order listed below:

Please follow the instructions carefully as incomplete applications will not be sent out for peer review.

File name: LastName_NameOfInstitution_P&F.pdf

1) Title Page

  • Stanford Diabetes Research Center Pilot and Feasibility Projects

  • Project title

  • Project leader and co-investigators’ name, title, department, institution and complete contact information

  • Type of Proposal: Basic/Clinical/Translational/Prevention and Control (may be multiple)

  • Topic: Diabetes/Obesity/Endocrinology/Autoimmunity/Transplantation/Related complications (may be multiple)

  • Abstract: Describe aims and objectives of your research

  • Impact of award: Please state how your work aligns with the goals of the SDRC P&F scheme and why this work cannot be funded from other sources.

  • List of potential reviewers: Name up to three potential reviewers and emails outside of your host institution.

2) Research Proposal

Description of proposed research:

  • Research proposal should be at least 3 pages and not more than 5 pages in length*. Figures are included in this page limit.

  • Format: single-spaced, ½ inch margins, Arial or Helvetica font size 11 or larger

  • Research plan with relevant illustrations

  • Description of research subjects involved (both human or animal)

  • Description of interdisciplinary characteristics of this project

  • Explanation of how the proposed research fits into diabetes related research

(*note: references are not included in the page limit)

3) Detailed budget for UP TO $70,000

Use PHS 398 budget form available for downloading from this NIH webpage: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html

4) Budget justification

5) Biosketches (NIH format) for the Project Leader and Co-Investigators

NIH biosketch webpage: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm

6) Other Support (also NIH format*). Please include both active and pending support for the PI and Co-Investigator(s).

*Sample "other support" form available on this NIH webpage: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html

7) Compliance Documents Please note that awarded projects are expected to begin only after the submission, receipt, and approval of all required compliance documentation such as IRB/APLAC approvals

8) Agreement to provide progress reports and required presentations on P&F Project Progress to the SDRC.

9) Please state whether you have previously applied for a SDRC P&F award (YES/NO)

Please note: Proposals can be submitted directly using the application smartsheet link following the internal application approval process at your home institution. Once funded, the issued sub-award will go through the institutional (U.C.) grants office (CGO) for contract signatures.

Inquiries

Applicants are welcome to discuss their proposed plans in response to this solicitation. Please direct any other inquiries to diabetescenter@stanford.edu.

Selection process

The SDRC P&F Review Committee will review and recommend action on all Pilot and Feasibility Project applications.